One Shot: A Christmas Present POV Ren
by Iceflower221
Summary: Ren is in agony, trying to survive each day without Kelsey in India. Will he go after her to Oregon? Or will he not survive the separation?


My life had no purpose, not anymore. Since that fateful day at the circus I believed that I would never be alone again. But she left me, she was halfway across the world in Oregon. Yet I couldn't forget her. She left me because she thought I would leave her when I figured out that she wasn't a princess, but she couldn't be further from the truth. The truth was I loved her more than I loved my life, she was my only reason that I got up each day. Weeks had passed since she left, the only contact I had with her was when she talked with Mr. Kadam every Friday, not that I actually got to talk to her. But to hear her voice was the closest thing I got to being with her, so I started to look forward to it. Hanging on to every word she said. I wanted to go after her so badly, but Mr. Kadam wouldn't let me. He said that I needed to learn certain "things" before I could go to Oregon to find her. Part of me knew he was right, but the rest of me denied it with my entire being.

My eyes didn't want to open, though I could sense the sunrise behind my closed eyelids. I loved the sunset and sunrise, but I loved her even more, and being alone with my mind with those memories of her hurt too much. I was dreaming that she was still with me, I have had this dream nearly every night after she left me. The last thing I saw was her face, and her beautiful brown does eyes. When I woke up I could swear I could smell the peaches and cream scent. That wonderful aroma was better than any perfume, and it always meant that she was near.

Finally my dreams went blank, and my body forced me to get up. As a tiger I padded quietly down to breakfast, lost in my own heartbroken thoughts. It was nearly as bad as her taken away from me by fate or another man, it was the pain that she wasn't with me. I ate a quick breakfast of peanut butter pancakes, they reminded me of Kelsey. I remember some of our lengthy discussions on my pancake preferences. After that I went to go find Kishan so we could work out together, this was the only part of the day that I actually looked forward to. It's because of the physical pain, it helps me to block out my emotional pain, for a short period of time at least. It came to a point where I actually let Kishan beat me up extra just because I welcomed the pain.

Almost every day we brawled at around 8 o'clock. So when I got to our workout room in the back of the house he was already there, warming up. I turned back into a man and said goodmorning.

"So you finally decided to join me, eh brother." Kishan jibed.

"There isn't any point getting up early anymore, now it is only the sun that gets me up and going everyday." I replied sulkily.

"Would you like to tell me what your motivation to get out of bed was before, because you weren't like this a couple months ago." He said with sarcasm.

"If you must know Kishan it was Kelsey, she is the one that held me together the last couple of months." I replied truthfully.

"Well, seeing as you are putting yourself in the pit of misery. It gives me an excuse to beat you even harder today." He said with a smirk.

"You may as well get on with it then." I said as Kishan pulled his fist back.

As he lunged forward with his fist I ducked and got in a roundhouse kick to his face. We continued on fighting each other until an hour was long gone. Eventually I got tired of fighting back and started letting Kishan get extra hits on me. When another hour went by with him beating me up he suddenly stopped. He stood in front of me and slitted his eyes at me. He walked around me, dead silent. Then he stood a foot away from me and studied me, before punching me square in the face. I could have avoided it, but I just stood there and took it. I didn't even bother defending myself as he punched me in the gut as hard as he possibly could. I recovered and I got back up to face him again.

Then he growled at me and said " You need to snap of it brother."

" Apparently the mighty Prince of the Mujulaain Empire, the High Protector of the People, the Champion at the Battle of the Hundred Horses, the heir to the throne, was felled by a young girl!" and he emphasized it with another punch in the face.

"There is nothing more pathetic than a tiger licking his wounds." He sneered.

My mind comprehended that he was insulting me, yet I didn't retaliate. I welcomed the pain, and nothing he said fazed me.

Then he intensely said one remark that would spur me into action again.

"Our parents would be ashamed at what you have become in the past few months, they raised a coward. If you aren't a man enough to do anything about it, then I sure will!" he yelled with a growl.

Then something in me clicked, a final decision that she could either accept or reject. But with either choice I knew I would be happier there than I was here in India. I got up, glared at Kishan, and punched him so hard in the gut that he was out for 10 minutes.

I stormed out of the room with a new purpose, and strode out to find Mr. Kadam. He was in the peacock living room having a cup of chamomile tea.

When I came in he looked up from a large book he was reading and said, " Good morning Ren, are you ready for another lesson today?"

"Actually Mr. Kadam, I wanted to talk to you about something. Before I tell you what I want to mention that no matter what you say or do, I will not change my course of action, I am only asking for your help to make things easier. I have decided to go after Kelsey, I am going to Oregon whether you let me or not. But I have come to realize that I can't live without her, I will be happier living with her in Oregon that here." I said sincerely and with as much conviction as I could muster.

"Well, I can see there is no changing your mind then. Fair enough, I feel I have taught you enough to be alright on your own in this modern world. I wish you all the luck in the world, my son." He said with a smile and embraced me. "I will ask Nilima to arrange for you to fly to Oregon immediately.

"Thank you Mr. Kadam, no one could ask for a better protector and family member. Your service to use I could never hope to repay, but I will strive to all the same." I said meaning every word of it, he really was a wonderful man. I would never have made it back to India if it wasn't for him.

I walked to my room to pack my things, over the next two days I finished packing my things. Nilima had certainly been busy, she had arranged for my new car to be left at the Oregon airport, for me to move into Kelsey's duplex, my flight the next day, she even signed me up for WOU college courses. Me and Kishan would be totally lost without her arranging everything. The last thing I did before my departure was to gather presents going to Oregon for Christmas and bring them all with me.

When my task was done and everything was prepared I spent one last night alone in my bedroom. Now I dreamed about my hope of holding Kelsey in my arms once more.

When morning came, I had no trouble opening my eyes. For I knew that once I got on my flight today I would be on my way to her again. The happiness at seeing her again gave me the strength to go on with conviction and purpose. I said goodbye to everyone and Mr. Kadam told me he would be driving me to the airport. He informed me that an employee had already taken care of my bags and the plane was ready for takeoff as soon as I was inside. We got into the jeep and drove silently all the way to the airport. We already said all that had needed to be said the previous days before my leaving.

We arrived at the airport a half an hour later and I hugged Mr. Kadam before boarding. I got on and found Nilima ready with a breakfast of browned sausages, golden toast, and cheesy eggs. When Kelsey left I couldn't taste or feel anything, everything was just there. Now that I was returning to her I felt exuberantly happy and I enjoyed every bite of breakfast. I read Shakespeare the entire time until it became night, I recalled fond memories of us reading this book together before I went to bed and dreamed of the time when I first kissed Kelsey, or rather when she kissed me. We arrived at the airport in the afternoon the next day , when we landed the employees loaded my new car and I thanked them before taking my leave.

Before going to find Kelsey I decided to unpack my things at the duplex. Most of it had been taken care of prior to my arrival, but I still needed to drop some things off. There were still things to take care of, but they could wait. I needed to see Kelsey again first. I got into my cobalt blue hummer and drove to her foster parents home, figuring she would be there christmas afternoon. It was lightly snowing when I drove into their driveway and parked the car.

I slowly walked up to the door and waited a second before ringing the doorbell. A couple of seconds later Kelsey opened the door and froze. Weeks of pent up stress and no sleep all disappeared as I was able to gaze into her eyes once more. I carefully brought my fingers up to her cheek and stroked it. I felt the link between us sharpen and wrap around my heart as I tentatively brought my arms around her body, she still didn't move. I pressed my forehead against hers and drew in her peaches and cream scent that I had missed so much. I couldn't stand it any longer, weeks without seeing her and holding her had taken away my self control. I crushed her against me and I thought I would never let go of her again. I slowly rocked back and forth gently, stroked her beautiful hair, and whispered something. "Kelsey…..Kelsey…...Kelsey."

A Christmas Present

All I needed was you

You were the only Christmas present I would ever need

That's what I thought

But later thinking brought me to this

If you remain mine

And love me,

Unconditionally,

Then you will be the best Christmas present ever

Wrapped up in your quilt


End file.
